The history of suburbia
James’ theory of history that things happen because they seem like a good idea at the time
How our auto oriented petroleum based society is unsustainable
How bad urban planing has negative psychological and cultural implications
The role of zoning laws, and how zoning can both encourage and prevent suburban sprawl
The future of suburbia, how some will be retrofitted into walkalble communities, while others will be abandoned
The New Urbanist Movement
Mass immigration and overpopulation
Why James does not view skyscrapers and hyper density as viable alternatives to suburbia
Robert’s point that tall structures can have aesthetic value, and how James acknowledges that the early wave of skyscrapers(ex. Singer Building, Woolworth Building, Manhattan Municipal Building) were beautiful structures but historical flukes
How European cities provide the ideal model for urbanism
Examples of sustainable American cities include Portland, Oregon, Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia
Mass Transit, and why James favors investing in existing rail infrastrusture over new high speed rail
The Streetcar suburb, and how they provide a model for New Urbanism
James’ point that even with alternative energy and technological innovation, we still have to downsize and localize our society and economy
How peak oil will lead to economic and political decentralization
How Peak Oil will make Globalization unsustainable
The future of China and the Arab Gulf States
Pre-War Japan as the best example of an advanced civilization without industrialization
The scarcity of water in the future, and how the inland water system will regain it’s valueHistoric Preservation, how the movement was started in the 1960’s in response to the demolition of Pennsylvania Station in NYC, and the debate about what should be preserved
Rabbit makes the case for mid century modern
Capital scarcities in the future, and how mass development is dependent upon the financial system
James’ four book series set in a post economic collapse America, the World Made by Hand

The conservative concept of self sufficiency( ex.working for a corporation, driving a car, and owning a home, in the suburbs) vs. the traditionalist one(ex.growing your own food), and the futurist one
The traditionalist Larpy goal of a society where everyone grows their own food, and how local agriculture should be encouraged, but it is unrealistic for everyone to be involved in it
The growth of the suburbs, from the original Railroad suburbs of the 19th Century, to the post war car oriented suburban sprawl
How small towns that have access to both urbanism and wilderness are the ideal place to live for those who can afford them(ex. Marin County, Palo Alto, and East Bay Hills in the SF Bay Area, and parts of North Jersey)New Urbanism, which seeks to re-create walkable communities out of car oriented suburbsJames Howard Kunstler‘s theory that Peak oil will lead to the death of suburbia and re-creation of localized communities
Future predictions that Peak Oil will lead to a Mad Max style collapse
Conspiracy Theories, the theory that the elites want chaos vs the frog in the boiling pan theory, and Alex’s comment that the elite’s have a short time frame
A Futurist Utopian model that’s ecologically sustainable, where robots do all the work, and that has a Basic income
How a basic income could create a utopia if implemented the right way, but could also be abused by the elites
How the key problem with society is that the elites control to much of the wealth, and the underclass control a large share of the population, and how to remedy that
Mike Judge’s IdiocracyTranshumanism
The Nineteen Eighty-Four Police State Scenario
The US Prison System, and how inhumane condition only make people more dangerous
How we have open border combined with a surveillance state
How terrorism, “hate speech”, and the underage sex hysteria have been used to justify complete surveillance of the internet
How every political ideology is tied to a cultural aesthetic
Our upcoming show on Retrofuturism, and how Retrofuturism is the perfect aesthetic for Radical Centrism, because they are both based on fusionism

Albert Bartlett is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder who is an internationally-known and widely-published expert on the economics of sustainability and growth. He is the author of The Essential Exponential and of http://www.albartlett.org/.

Topics discussed:

The dynamics of population growth and overpopulation

The necessity of addressing population in environmental policies

Boulder, Colorado’s tax to buy open lands to take them out of development

Sustainable growth as an oxymoron

Political motives for increased growth

Urban growth always outstrips revenues and promotes debt.

Immigration as a cause of population growth

Political motives for increasing immigration

You cannot sustain a country by importing labor.

Population growth dilutes democratic representation.

Population growth undermines freedom of action.

The necessity of making free family planning world-wide

The energy crisis requires addressing population growth.

Modern technology does not disprove Malthusianism.

Peak oil

The limits of alternative energies

The necessity of global solutions to environmental and population issues

Urban planning defines problem solving as removing impediments to growth which leads to new problems.